9(1)Section 24 (special administration orders made on special petitions) is amended as follows.
(2)After subsection (1), there is inserted—
“(1A)If on an application made to the High Court by petition presented—
(a)by the Secretary of State (after consulting the Assembly); or
(b)with the consent of the Secretary of State (after consulting the Assembly), the Authority,
the Court is satisfied in relation to any company which is a qualifying licensed water supplier that any one or more of the grounds specified in subsection (2) below is satisfied in relation to that company, that Court may make a special administration order in relation to that company.”
(3)In subsection (2)—
(a)for “subsection (1)” there is substituted “subsections (1) and (1A)”,
(b)in paragraphs (a) and (b), after “appointment” there is inserted “or licence”,
(c)after paragraph (b) there is inserted—
“(bb)in the case of a company which is a qualifying licensed water supplier, that—
(i)action taken by the company has caused a contravention by a water undertaker of any principal duty; and
(ii)that action is serious enough to make it inappropriate for the company to continue to hold its licence;”,
(d)in paragraph (d), after “this Part” there is inserted “or was not a qualifying licensed water supplier”, and
(e)in paragraph (e), at the beginning there is inserted “in the case of a company holding an appointment under Chapter 1 of this Part,”.
(4)For subsection (7) there is substituted—
“(7)In this section “principal duty” means—
(a)in relation to a company holding an appointment under Chapter 1 of this Part, a requirement imposed on the company by section 37 or 94 below;
(b)in relation to a company which is a qualifying licensed water supplier, any condition of its licence or any statutory requirement imposed on it in consequence of its licence.”